Truck’s Brake Fails, Killing Freeway Worker

A Caltrans contract worker died when his truck rolled backward and struck him as he worked on the Golden State Freeway, the California Highway Patrol reported Tuesday.

Henry Del Rio, 54, of Pico Rivera died at St. Joseph Medical Center following Monday’s 10:35 p.m. accident that occurred alongside the southbound lanes at Scott Road, CHP Officer Frank Lewis said.

Del Rio and two other crewmen for a Rochester, N.Y.-based company under contract to Caltrans to install fiber optic cables for closed-circuit cameras on the freeways were working at the site. The vehicle apparently had an inoperable parking brake, Lewis said.

The truck rolled backward about 500 feet and hit the three men, who had their backs to the truck, Lewis said. The other two men were treated at a hospital and released.

Caltrans spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli said Del Rio was the first employee of a private contractor killed this year, the 43rd since 1972. Three Caltrans workers have been killed on the job this year, 55 since 1972.